Solar energy generation is a rapidly growing technology worldwide and offers the potential of almost unlimited clean and sustainable energy. However, the use of solar electric technology has been limited by the costs associated with installing solar panels to existing and new structures and facilities.
Solar cell array installation is a very specialized line of work and requires special equipment and expertise. Because solar modules need maximum exposure to sunlight to operate efficiently, they are often installed on the rooftops of structures or buildings. Rooftops are convenient because they typically represent unused space on a structure. Rooftops are also less prone to vandalism or theft than locations that are accessible from the ground. While rooftops are often good locations to install solar modules, they introduce a number of complications into the installation process. Most notably, rooftop installations introduce increased risk of water leakage as components are fixed through roofing membranes and into structural members below. Some conventional installations require bolting a support component directly to the roof, which can cause leakage from water that seeps in from the separation between roof tiles. Rooftop surfaces are often visible and require a smooth, level installation, which is often at odds with the undulating, settled surfaces common in roof surfaces. Working on roof surfaces typically introduces numerous access and safety challenges which must be overcome, and therefore limiting the amount of time for installation or maintenance on the roof is highly advantageous to an installer.
For these reasons, it is desirable to have a solar cell array mounting solution that offers robust protection against the elements, has an adaptive configuration for accommodating roof and other mounting surface irregularities, and contains features that make installation as quick and efficient as possible to minimize installation time on the roof.
Solar panel performance is closely tied to the orientation of a module as it operates. Because systems to track the sun can be expensive and can require a lot of surface area of a roof, modules are typically mounted fixed in the orientation that yields the best annual energy or cost performance. Tilt angles in the range of 10 to 20 degrees are most common, with higher angles found in higher latitudes or off-grid systems with greater demand for production in winter months. For this reason, some complete solar cell array installation solutions include tilt options for the modules when they are installed on flat or low tilt situations.
Large commercial roof spaces are often subject to this flat roof, tilt configuration requirement. However, due to the complexity of commercial roof construction and the high reliability requirement of commercial roof membranes, roof penetrations may be exceedingly expensive in commercial applications. In some conventional systems, a rail can only be attached to a support at certain locations, which can make tilting and height adjustments difficult and installation can be more time consuming.
When installing components in some conventional systems, a module is attached to a rail by sliding a securing mechanism along the length of the rail to the desired mounting point. A similar procedure is sometimes utilized for securing the rail to a support component on the roof. As a result, the process may require added time for sliding each securing mechanism to the appropriate rail position. It is desirable to have a securing mechanism that can be inserted into the rail at the point of desired mounting.